ONU Residence Life Perspective: Power Outages on Campus

Today something happened on ONU's campus that is abnormal. We experienced a power outage. But this was no ordinary power outage, this one was campus-wide. That is a rare occurrence around here due to all the fail safes and modularity of the ONU power grid. Normally this would be a write off occurrence as a lot of what I do is not reliant on power and I can be patient enough for power to come back on. But today was different becasue this was my first power outage as a member of ONU Res Life.

As a member of Res Life my duty is to watch over my residents of my residence hall and ensure their comfort and safety. That, and be a filter for every single one of their concerns when something bothersome or unusual arises. That concern today was the big power outage in the middle of the afternoon when everybody is doing homework. 

As soon as the the power went out multiple things began to happen simultaneously such as:

• I began to get multiple calls and texts from my residents saying the power was out
• My co-workers began to get multiple calls and texts from residents saying the power was out
• The main Res Life office began to get multiple calls and texts from residents saying the power was out
• Physical Plant, ONU's maintenance team, began to get multiple calls from residents saying the power was out and asking when it would be back on (immediately after the power went off)
• Some residents contacted the Senior RA and asked for a work order to be filled that their outlet or light was broken
• And many more events in various buildings on campus

Now I was in the middle of painting a rock outside when the power went out so I was unaware until my phone began to blow up with some of the things I mentioned above. After the training we do at the beginning of the semester it is easy to switch between my student hat and my Res Life hat. So immediately jumped to deal with the wave of concern that was washing over my phone by answering questions and messaging my team to figure out what the deal was. While that was happening I walked inside to check with the Res Life office and the entire time I was there the phone didn't stop ringing with the same question at the end of call "When will the power be back on?"

Within 15 minutes we had the situation mostly handled and messages out to our residents explaining the issue. I entirely expected to deal with this kind of "widespread panic" as a part of Res Life. But nothing will ever prepare you for when it actually happens. Although this was a minor incident, the wave of calls and general unrest was a surprising thing to experience on the receiving end. The job is super rewarding in more ways than one, but these times of student unrest can be a doozy. So let this be a cautionary tale; When your power goes out, try not to panic call the campus staff and check with your peers first to see if it is just you or the entire campus. Thank you.

A representation of the student body when the power goes out